Wednesday, October 30

Review: True Details Luftwaffe Parachutes in 32nd scale

Look at what’s just dropped in! Three new resin parachutes
from True Details to hang on your 1/32nd Luftwaffe diorama – let’s
see if they are life savers or of they have fallen thru the net in our review.

As we all know there aren’t many accessories for 32nd scale airfield
dioramas, though several companies have seen the gap in the market and are
churning out some great stuff. We looked at some USAAF ‘chutes a while ago and
liked them very much – they were simple and easy to prepare without too much
work – there are some RAF chutes now as well as this bunch of three parachutes
for use with Luftwaffe dioramas in 1/32nd scale

The two main parachutes used by aviators in WWII were either the seat type,
where the pack formed a cushion for the aviator or the back type which were
carried on his back. The Luftwaffe favoured the British Irvin Air Chute Company’s
product to be superior to the USAAF style parachute they had been using up until
1937. The Germans contracted Irvin in
the UK to supply parachute new parachutes until the war broke out in 1939 –
from that time on they basically copied the Irwin design so it was not a
surprise to me to find that these parachutes looked very much like the True
Details RAF parachutes that we will look at in another review.

As with other seat types the Fl 30231 required that the
pilot or aircrew member sit on the parachute pack as a cushion when flying, and
this was used by Me109 Bf110 pilots, Ju 87 pilots and rear gunners, and crew of other
aircraft that featured a bucket recess in the aircraft seat.

The resin on offer:

All three of these ‘chutes are made out of one part of
poured resin in each case. Although one of these is the “sit on “style of chute
(#3) whilst 1 & 2 are the Type Fl 30231 backpack type.

The resin is cast superbly on these three ‘chutes. In fact
there was only a little bit of mould release in the smallest flap of strap on
one of the chutes we looked at says a lot for the quality control of
these. Someone who cares about accuracy
made them and now all you need to do is a little carving on each to make them
look realistic.

This is the Luftwaffe Fl30232 backpack type parachute
assembly is sculpted to represent an upturned ‘chute taken off the pilot or
crew. The harness is here draped into the centre where it all meets the release
which simply twisted and was pushed (more like hit) to release.

This was easy to trim away the extra resin from the poured remnance. In fact
most of it peeled off with my hands only and then just some trimming with a
sharp knife. This one I think looks great as you can see so much detail here in
the thin harness straps.

Again this is a resin Luftwaffe Fl 30232 backpack type
parachute that can stand in for a 35th scale real aircrew chute
posed with an integral pack that this time is downturned to show detail on the
other side. This really exhibits the harness and other intricate parts of the
chute to even better detail and it will great painted up

Cast in one piece again this is the type of ‘chute that
rests near a pilot’s posterior in the hollow that sometimes was in the fighter’s
seats like the Bf 109/110’s & Stukas

These chutes are tops in value, ease of “construction” and
they will detail up really well with all of the detail already there in resin
for you – they are a great accessory to have on hand for a WWII Luftwaffe dio